Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 5^th February and 12^th March, 2019, be received and approved as correct records.

The Scrutiny Research and Support Officer presented the report and outlined the main requirements of the Council’s Scrutiny Workplan. 

The Scrutiny Workplan, once finalised and approved by the Committee, outlined the Council’s yearly rolling work programme of in-depth reviews and standing items considered by Panels A and B and the Committee respectively.  Facilitation of the Workplan was flexible and new items could be added during the year dependent on need or changing priorities as appropriate. 

Traditionally, the Workplan had sometimes contained review topics that were too vague or unwieldy which had resulted in a disjointed or unfocussed approach to the resulting reviews and their outcomes.  It had therefore been acknowledged that a more focussed approach to topic selection and inclusion would be beneficial for the Workplan going forward.

As a result, Members were asked to give consideration to a short terms of reference form to ensure any suggested topics were well structured with the potential to add real value and outcomes to the Authority’s provision of services.

Topic sources were often varied and could be identified from one or more of the following:-

·         Issues of community concern

·         Service delivery concerns

·         Review, audit and inspection outcomes

·         Issues relating to Council priorities

·         Partnership objectives

·         The Forward Plan

·         Performance

·         Budgets

·         Improvement Plans.

At this point Members were asked to consider the list of potential topics for the 2019/20 Scrutiny Workplan, as contained in the report, and earmark around 7 or 8 initial topics for initial inclusion and progression.

Heritage and Conservation

Under this particular topic, Members considered specifically the promotion and preservation of the Council’s War Memorials and acknowledged that officers were keen to see this review undertaken to ensure provision was adequately made for their conservation now and for future generations.  It was agreed that should this topic be approved, it would be allocated as a priority to ensure that the review was completed and submitted to Cabinet in good time for the commencement of Remembrance Day events during November 2019.

Wildlife Protection

The item had been submitted by the Chairman who took a keen interest in wildlife and wanted to see a more collaborative approach to the preservation of wildlife within the District.  The financial constraints of the Authority were acknowledged and Members were unsure as to whether there was currently sufficent wildlife protection available within the Nottinghamshire boundaries.  It was agreed that the review could consider how the Council could better work with charities and partner organisations to protect and preserve the wildlife within Ashfield.

Climate Emergency

The item had been submitted to enable the Council to consider national climate concerns in relation to how it affected the Ashfield area.

Car Parking Facilities for Residents in Ashfield

Members considered car parking facilities as a potential topic with the review to specifically focus on space sizes, disabled and family provision and the continued appropriateness of the Council’s current car parking locations.  The Service Manager, Scrutiny & Democratic Services advised the Committee that the Council currently had a Car Parking Strategy document in  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS.3

The Service Manager, Scrutiny & Democratic Services advised the Committee that the new Statutory Scrutiny Guidance had finally been released after a long delay on 7^th May, 2019.  The guidance was originally due to be published in December 2018 but due to Brexit priorities it had been pushed back by a few months.

Having considered the document, local authorities and combined authorities were required to have due regard to the guidance when exercising their functions with the acknowledgement that the scrutiny function maintained its legislative status as part of the Stronger Leader model’s decision making framework and processes.

The new guidance had been summarised within the report and Members were encouraged to read both the report and the Statutory Scrutiny Guidance document in full.  There would be an ongoing expectation that any scrutiny function provided by an authority would be as effective as possible with the function being adequately resourced and financed as required.

RESOLVED

that the report be received and duly noted.